TreeHugger Picks: Readers' Take on Sustainable Cities

Awhile back, we initiated a series of posts encouraging our readers from across the globe to tell us about their cities: the green good, bad and ugly of the city, including things like public transportation, suburban sprawl, air quality and other considerations often given when looking at the general "greenness" of urban areas. We learned some interesting things.

1) In Portland, Oregon, we learned about the ease of biking around town, and the rain.2) The people of Austin, Texas told us about the reliable public transportation but lamented that it's still in Texas.3) In New York City, we heard all about the great public transit, hybrid cabs, efficient space use but were reminded of all the pollution: noise, light, and garbage.4) The citizens in Toronto, Ontario were equally pleased and upset by the bicycle-friendliness of the town, but many agreed that public transit was getting too expensive.5) Lester Brown pointed out that, almost without fail, big cities are unhealthy, inefficient places to live, though they don't have to be.